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My Adventure Through Our Family Tree Branches

For over 50 years my Dad researched both his and my Mom's family tree branches - and loved every minute of it! Trying to fulfill the promise I made him the last month of his life, I have spent the past four years continuing where he left off - finding out about all the many family members who came before us, from the many branches of our family trees. The histories will still be published as my Dad always wanted. But what he wanted most was to share the stories of the people who came before us - the places they lived, the cultures of the times, the families they created, and the circumstances - good and bad - that would one day lead to us, their descendants. These are the stories of my Mom's families. . . .

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Today, October 18, 2015, is the 215th Anniversary of the birth of my Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather William Jackson (1800-1879). He was the married to Elizabeth (1802-1870), was the father of six children including Sarah Linza (1837-1902), my 3x-Great Grandmother. William had been a Tailor throughout his life.

[Daughter Sarah married JamesBenjaminFlemming (1827-1907) in 1853 and they had seven children including my Great-Great-Grandfather CharlesClinton Flemming (1854-1932), the direct ancestor of all my Flemming relatives. On a side note William's daughter Sarah was born October 20th (in two days it will be the 178th Anniversary of her birth) and her husband James Flemming was born on October 18th so today is the 188th Anniversary of his birth! Happy Birthday to both my 4x-Great-Grandfather William and 3x-Great-Grandfather James!]
I've previously written a post about William Jackson - read it HERE. So I wanted to honor his birth 215 years ago by painting a little picture of what life was like in the year 1800 when he was born in South Carolina.

In 1800 the United States of America was just 24 year old. There were 5,308,483 people living in the U.S. - we know this because the year he was born the 2nd United States Census took place. In South Carolina there were 345,591 people residing here, of which 146,151 were slaves. In America ninety percent of people lived on farms in 1800.

﻿﻿The year William was born John Adams was President of the United States; Thomas Jefferson was Vice President. In the summer of 1800 the federal government was moved from Philadelphia to Washington - "the half-finished White House stood in a naked field overlooking the Potomac, with two awkward Department buildings near it, a single row of brick houses and a few isolated dwellings within sight, and nothing more." President Adams moved into the Executive Mansion in late 1800, becoming the first President to live in what was later to be called the White House. ﻿﻿The election for the next President of the United States took place in 1800. There was no popular vote for President & Vice President - electors were appointed by the state legislatures. [Because of the initial tie a final vote took place in February 1801 - Thomas Jefferson was elected President; Aaron Burr was elected V.P.] The national debt in 1800 was about eighty-three-million-dollars, most of the debt was held overseas. ﻿

Flag of the United States

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There were just 16 states in the Union in 1800. The U.S. flag was made up of 15 stars and 15 stripes. [see picture] The same year the Library of Congress was founded. It was in 1800 that Spain returns Louisiana to France.

Travel between towns in America was difficult making it almost impossible for farmers to sell their produce - travel between states barely existed except by stagecoach or horseback over hazardous dirt roads. There were no railroads yet. The steamboat had just developed so even travel by river was in its infancy. There was so much more left to be done to make travel accessible - roads had to be cut, bridges had to be built, and lodging for travelers was necessary for most travelers. At this time most people lived their whole lives where they were born - following in their father's and grandfather's footsteps, using tools and skills that had changed very little in hundreds of years.

Farmers grew produce for their families and their communities only. The cloth that was worn by the farmer's family was homespun, and the clothes were cut and sewn at home. Nearly everything worn was homemade. Education was either done at home or in a local "one-room-schoolhouse" taught by a teacher with no formal education to teach. Babies were born at home, delivered by midwives or family members. There was no pain medicine, antibiotics or baby formula.

It was a different world entirely. But it was the world that William Jackson was born into, where he raised his family and lived his full life. Happy 215th Birthday!